Flu vaccine alternative costs Edmonton needle-phobes
By Timothy Gerwing
EDMONTON – Flu vaccine delivered by nasal mist instead of the traditional injection is now available in Edmonton, but at a cost.
FluMist is a once-a-year spray administered by a health care professional, at a cost of about $35. The mist is available in west Edmonton at the Safeway pharmacies at 9710 170 St. and 15007 Stony Plain Rd. only.
Needle vaccination is covered by AHS for all health-card-carrying Albertans at all AHS flu clinics and private pharmacies.
The New England Journal of medicine reported that FluMist reduced the instance of season flu in children by more than 50 per cent compared to children vaccinated with the shot, but AHS will not be subsidizing the mist in 2011.
AHS agrees that FluMist is safe, but is currently in the midst a one-year trial study trying to determine whether or not covering FluMist for Albertans is feasible.
“This trial is not focused on the efficacy or safety of the product itself, as the product has already been approved by Health Canada,” said Shannon Evans, a senior communications person for AHS. “The research trial is focused on operational considerations of delivering this type of vaccine. In other words, determining whether FluMist can be efficiently implemented.”
- An administration guide, put out by FluMist maker Medimmune.
If accepted, FluMist would be subsidized as soon as the winter of 2012. If not, a cost might always come with the needle-free alternative.
“It’s a problem,” said Loussa Saba, a Safeway pharmacist, who believes the mist should be covered now. “It should be available as a [free] option to people. We want people to be vaccinated.”
FluMist contains live flu virus, and according to the Centers for Disease Control should not be taken by people who are
- Older than 50
- Younger than two
- Pregnant
- Suffering from heart or lung disease, or
- Asthmatic.
Active virus, theoretically, incites a better immune response from the body, but carries a greater risk of illness. Unlike FluMist, the shot contains deactivated virus.
Trypanophobia, or fear of needles, is present in over 10 per cent of North Americans, and is deemed serious by health care workers, because sufferers will often forgo medical treatment such as vaccinations.
According to Health Canada, between 4,000 and 8,000 people die each year from pneumonia related to the flu.
Both the traditional flu shot and FluMist protect against the new strain of H1N1.
AHS-run flu clinics will go until Nov. 26 and are located in Edmonton at:
• Westmount Shopping Centre
• Taylor College (CDI)
• Northgate Health Centre
• Millbourne Market Mall
• Londonderry Mall
• Jewish Community Centre
• East Edmonton Health Centre
• Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre
AHS requires people to come with their health cards ready and short sleeves.
Immunization shots are also available through private pharmacies like London Drugs, Shoppers Drug Mart and Safeway.
